British Households Urged to Prepare 72-Hour Emergency Kits Amid Fears of Russian Sabotage on Energy Pipelines
According to the Daily Mail on Sunday, citing unnamed security experts, British households should prepare 72-hour emergency kits as it is feared that Russia could sabotage British energy pipelines, leading to significant disruptions. Russia has repeatedly denied speculation that it plans to damage Western energy infrastructure.
The British tabloid reported that the British energy system struggled in the past winter, coming close to a blackout and was reliant on emergency reserves and power imports from Denmark to maintain supply. The situation was further complicated by the British government’s decision to shut down fossil fuel and nuclear power in favor of renewable energy.
The Daily Mail also pointed out that this makes the United Kingdom vulnerable to sabotage acts against the energy infrastructure that connects the island nation to the outside world, particularly by Russian ships.
Security experts told the newspaper that British households should also follow the EU’s advice to assemble a survival package for three days, which should include water, non-perishable food, medication, a battery-powered radio, a flashlight, identification papers and a Swiss Army knife.
“We know the Russians are active in the North Sea and have the power to disrupt our energy connections. We must become much more self-sufficient and quickly. And households should be prepared for all eventualities” the source said.
The article also cited the concerns over possible Russian sabotage acts, which are based on the fact that Moscow has been linked to a series of apparent sabotage acts in the Baltic Sea in recent months, although Western investigators have found no evidence to support these claims. Moscow has vehemently denied the speculation, calling it “absurd.”
In light of the concern over a possible energy crisis, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to “reinvigorate our industrial heartlands” by investing in carbon capture and storage and building more wind farms, while also increasing defense spending, a government source told the Daily Mail.
However, the source of the newspaper noted that the government is not currently planning to encourage households to assemble emergency kits.
In January, the Russian embassy in the UK denied claims that Moscow posed a threat to underwater infrastructure. Instead, it said that the British establishment and media were fuelling an “anti-Russian hysteria” to justify a strengthened military presence in regions like the North and Baltic seas.